Karn, Argent Defender
Legendary Artifact Creature — Golem
Artifacts and creatures entering the battlefield don't cause abilities to trigger.
A life without rest, a soul heavy with regret.
1 / 3
Commander bracket
Derived from card traits, not a ruling — bracket rules turn on how a deck intends to use a card. Bracket rules
EDHREC
Combos
Not part of any combo on Commander Spellbook.
Commander recommendations
Top synergy 50
Played far more in this commander's decks than elsewhere.
- Grafdigger's Cage
- Soulless Jailer
- Karn, the Great Creator
- Phyrexian Dreadnought
- God-Pharaoh's Statue
- Eater of Days
- Lodestone Golem
- Karn, Legacy Reforged
- Defense Grid
- Ward of Bones
- Torpor Orb
- Vexing Bauble
- Leveler
- Trinisphere
- Clock of Omens
- Cursed Totem
- Winter Orb
- Thorn of Amethyst
- Mycosynth Lattice
- Deserted Temple
- Sphere of Resistance
- Weathered Runestone
- Metalworker
- Inventors' Fair
- The Walls of Ba Sing Se
- Vesuva
- Damping Sphere
- Foundry Inspector
- Fomori Vault
- Karn's Sylex
- Walking Ballista
- Darksteel Angel
- Kuldotha Forgemaster
- Urza's Saga
- Staff of Domination
- Platinum Angel
- Crystal Vein
- Darksteel Forge
- Krang, Utrom Warlord
- Blightsteel Colossus
- Sensei's Divining Top
- Mox Opal
- Emergence Zone
- Silent Arbiter
- Static Orb
- Urza's Workshop
- Gemstone Caverns
- Platinum Emperion
- Karn, Living Legacy
- Karn, Silver Golem
Most included 50
Highest share of decks running them, distinctive or not.
- Sol Ring
- Wastes
- Thran Dynamo
- Urza's Tower
- Urza's Mine
- All Is Dust
- Forsaken Monument
- Urza's Power Plant
- Mystic Forge
- Foundry Inspector
- Null Elemental Blast
- Inventors' Fair
- Urza's Cave
- Urza's Workshop
- Ugin, the Ineffable
- War Room
- Darksteel Citadel
- Urza's Saga
- Karn, the Great Creator
- Mind Stone
- Ultima, Origin of Oblivion
- Unwinding Clock
- Grafdigger's Cage
- Buried Ruin
- Karn, Legacy Reforged
- Palladium Myr
- Basalt Monolith
- Liberator, Urza's Battlethopter
- Warping Wail
- God-Pharaoh's Statue
- Scavenger Grounds
- Soulless Jailer
- Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
- Echoes of Eternity
- Lodestone Golem
- Kozilek's Command
- Ugin, Eye of the Storms
- Glaring Fleshraker
- Lightning Greaves
- Deserted Temple
- Phyrexian Dreadnought
- Sensei's Divining Top
- Clock of Omens
- Thought Vessel
- Jhoira's Familiar
- Chimil, the Inner Sun
- Eater of Days
- The Mycosynth Gardens
- Manifold Key
- Ancient Tomb
Format legality
Rulings
- 2026-08-21
If Karn, Argent Defender and another artifact or creature enter the battlefield at the same time, neither one will cause triggered abilities to trigger when they enter the battlefield.
- 2026-08-21
Look at the permanent as it exists on the battlefield, taking into account continuous effects, to determine whether any triggered abilities will trigger. For example, if you control Opalescence, which says, in part, "Each other non-Aura enchantment is a creature," each enchantment will be a creature at the time it enters the battlefield and will not cause triggered abilities to trigger.
- 2026-08-21
Replacement effects, such as a permanent entering the battlefield tapped or with counters on it, are unaffected. Abilities that apply "as [this permanent] enters" are replacement effects.
- 2026-08-21
The trigger event doesn't have to specify artifacts or creatures entering the battlefield. For example, Tireless Tracker has an ability that says "Whenever a land you control enters, investigate." If an artifact land or creature land you control enters, that ability won't trigger. If a nonartifact, noncreature land you control enters, the ability will trigger.
- 2026-08-21
Triggered abilities use the word "when," "whenever," or "at." They're often written as "[Trigger condition], [effect]." Some keyword abilities are triggered abilities and will have "when," "whenever," or "at the beginning of" in their reminder text.